Divergent 28 - A Candor or Dauntless Date
by AnnLiberty
Summary: Takes place in chapter 28 of Divergent. Instead of riding trains, making out, and talking about Erudite, what if Tobias and Tris snuck out to Zeke's for a game of Candor or Dauntless with some of their friends? Watch two Abnegation transfers work through unfamiliar feelings while they learn to love and be brave. (Italics in chapter 2 from Divergent) Part of my Drinking Games series
1. Chapter 1

11:36. He said he would be here for me at 11:45, and that I should "wear layers." I listen to several of the initiates snore and pretend to be asleep myself. I dressed myself in a pair of leggings and a skirt on the bottom, and a camisole, loose fitting top, and black jacket on top. I thought about wearing some of the cute shoes that Christina had practically forced me to buy, but I figured that wearing layers indicated that we were going outside, and my boots would be infinitely more practical if we were walking around outside or jumping on and off trains. So here I am, laying in bed pretending to be asleep, fully dressed in layers of black clothing and a pair of combat boots.

I slip quietly out of my bunk and creep toward the door. Opening it just a crack, I sneak out into the darkened hallway. I'm a few minutes early, but Tobias is waiting for me. We smile at each other shyly, and he reaches for my hand. Silently, I put my small hand in his big one and follow him down the hall. We sneak around one corner and down another hall when I realize that we are heading toward his apartment. I panic, nearly tripping over my own feet as I struggle to pull away from the man dragging me toward his apartment in the middle of the night. "Come on," Tobias whispers loudly, pulling me down another hall - away from his apartment.

I snap out of my panic and continue to follow until he stops at a doorway in the middle of the hall. He knocks softly three times, pauses, knocks three more times, then waits. A second later the door opens just an inch, held back by the chain lock on the inside.

"Password" hisses a whispering voice from inside.

Tobias rolls his eyes and says "Zeke is awesome" in a sarcastic voice.

"I told you, you have to say it with enthusiasm if you want to get in," comes the voice from inside.

"We can leave," Tobias retorts.

The door shuts and I hear the chain lock slide and the door opens revealing Uriah's older brother, Zeke, with a huge grin on his face.

"Four!" he exclaims, "and Tris! Your teacher thought you needed a more intense introduction into Dauntless life, I see."

"Something like that," growls Tobias. "How do you two know each other?"

"Ziplining," Zeke and I say at the same time. Tobias just shakes his head. I know the thrill of ziplining is completely foreign to someone with Tobias' fear of heights. Zeke and I grin at him like a couple of maniacs and he begins to recount our thrilling experience at the Hancock building.

I take a look around the room. Zeke's apartment looks a lot like Tobias', but messier and with a lot more stuff. The living room has a ratty old sofa, a comfy looking chair, and a couple of old kitchen chairs that had been dragged in to make room for the guests. In the back of the room, a black curtain separates the living room from where I know the bed sits. Marlene and Lynn sit on the couch together, laughing about something, and Shauna sits in the comfortable recliner near them.

Zeke calls into the kitchen, "Hector, Oscar, get out here! We're gonna start!"

Two broad-shouldered guys about the same age as Zeke and Tobias come barreling out of the kitchen with their hands full of chip bags and bottled beverages. I notice right away that they're identical, and Zeke confirms that they are twins when he introduces them as such. "Tris, this dynamic duo is Oscar," pointing to the twin on the left, "and Hector," pointing to the twin on the right, "the twin terrors. They were in initiation with me, Shauna, and Four. And gentlemen," he addresses Oscar and Hector, "this is Tris, one of the transfer initiates in Uri's group."

"We know who you are!" says Oscar, grinning widely, "Tris the stiff - first jumper! We don't get many Abnegation transfers, and they're NEVER the first jumper. Everyone knows who you are!"

"You're practically famous!" adds Hector, and I feel my face flush bright red at the attention.

They laugh at my discomfort, but I notice that Tobias doesn't join in their merriment at my expense. I feel strong with this tall, silent man standing behind me, and though I'm embarrassed at the attention, I don't fear these guys. Their eyes hold no malice, only playful teasing. I smile in spite of myself.

Zeke herds everyone to the group of chairs, and I take the end of the couch beside Lynn, with Tobias on a kitchen chair on my other side. Zeke lifts a squealing Shauna from the recliner and sits down, pulling her onto his lap. Uriah sits in the chair near his brother. Marlene and Lynn are rolled up on the couch together like they've been doing this all their lives, and with a pang of jealousy for their lifelong friendship, I realize they probably have. On the other side of Tobias, Oscar and Hector take up the other two kitchen chairs, an end table of pizza and snacks between them.

"OK, everyone," says Zeke in a loud voice, "the game is Candor or Dauntless. Now, I know you all are familiar," he glances around the circle, "but I'm going to explain it for Tris. And I believe 'Instructor Four' has a few additional rules for the initiates in the house. So here's how it works. One person picks another person in the room and asks, 'Candor or Dauntless?' If you pick Candor, you have to answer any question they ask, and tell the truth. If you pick Dauntless, they'll give you a dare and you have to do it. If you refuse, you have to take off an article of clothing. Four?"

"Initiates aren't supposed to be here," says Tobias in his instructor voice, "so all dares for these four have to take place right here at Zeke's. And no alcohol for the initiates. I'm not losing my job over this."

Everyone nods in agreement, and Lynn leans over to pat my arm. "Basically you just have to be brave, Tris. Brave enough to answer, brave enough to do the dare, or brave enough to get naked."

I feel my eyes grow bigger and my cheeks flush at the word "naked." Zeke wasn't kidding, this will be an intense introduction to Dauntless life.

"It's my apartment, so I'm going first!" calls Zeke, "Uri, Candor or Dauntless?"

"Duh, Dauntless. I'm no pansycake!"

"What?" I turn toward Tobias.

"Pansycake. It means wimp. No one says that anymore, but these two think they can bring it back," he replies, shaking his head as if the brothers should be ashamed of themselves.

"I dare you to go without Dauntless cake for a week," says Zeke.

"No way!" yells Uriah, ripping off his sweatshirt and tossing it into the middle of the circle. "Tris, I pick you. Candor or Dauntless?"

"Um, Candor."

"Pansycake." This word is going to get old really fast, I can already tell. "Have you ever kissed someone?"

I feel my cheeks redden. "Yes," I say quietly.

"Woo, didn't expect that from a stiff!" everyone calls out with cheers and catcalls, and I feel my cheeks getting darker red.

"Who?" asks Uri.

"I already answered your question," I say defiantly, and the laughter turns in his direction.

I call on Zeke next and dare him to give his little brother a kiss. He laughingly complies then turns to Tobias. "Four, Candor or Dauntless?"

"Dauntless."

"I dare you to let Tris sit on your lap for the rest of the game," says Zeke with a wicked grin.

Tobias turns to me, his eyes seeking permission. I nod and climb off the couch. "Sit there," I say, pointing to the seat I just vacated, "you'll be more comfortable." Tobias nods and moves as I suggested, and I perch on his knees. "Am I hurting you?" I ask.

"No," he laughs, "you hardly weigh anything at all, but it's hard to see. Would you slide back a bit?"

I feel my cheeks blush again, and I swallow my nervousness and slide back toward his broad chest as he requested. His hands settle high on my hips, holding me steady.

"Four! Earth to Four!" yells Zeke, "your turn, man!"

"Right," says Tobias, embarrassed. "Uri."

"Dauntless!" Uri calls out.

Tobias grins, and I can tell he has a plan. "I dare you to go the rest of the night without saying 'pansycake' again."

"No way," calls Uriah, pulling off his tee shirt and throwing it in the middle with his hoodie. "Lynn, Candor or Dauntless?"

"Dauntless," says Lynn.

"I dare you to do a tattoo show and tell," says Uriah, smugly.

Lynn shrugs and stands up. Turning her back to the room, she lifts her shirt half way up, and we see that her lower back is covered in tattooed flames with the Dauntless symbol right in the middle.

"Nice," says Hector appreciatively.

Lynn lowers her shirt and pulls up her right sleeve. On her bicep is a strange looking arrangement of swirls. "This is an ancient language that used symbols for words instead of letters that spelled words," she explains, "it means 'courage.'"

Dropping her sleeve, Lynn begins to unbutton her pants, and my face isn't the only one in the circle to register shock. But she doesn't pull her pants down, just loosens them so she can reveal another symbol on the inside edge of her hip bone. "This is my girl power tattoo," she says proudly, "it's an ancient symbol many cultures used to mean 'woman.'"

We all applaud her ink as she buttons her pants again and sits back down. "Oscar," calls Lynn, "Candor or Dauntless?"

"Dauntless."

"I challenge you to have a drinking contest with your brother."

"Brilliant!" cheers Zeke, "Why have we never thought of this before?" I startle at his sudden, loud reaction, and Tobias squeezes my hips to hold me steady on his lap. Zeke and Lynn rush off to the kitchen to prepare the drinks and I shift to look at Tobias for an explanation.

"Tris!" he hisses in a pained whisper, "please stop wiggling!"

"I'm so sorry! Am I hurting you?" I whisper back.

"No," he says, turning beet red, "you're causing, um, other problems."

I notice his eyes pointedly glance toward his lap, and as my gaze follows his I am mortified. I can't breathe, my face is the reddest it has ever been, and my back is as rigid as, well, as Tobias' "problem."

"Should I get off?" I squeak out in a frightened whisper.

"No," he snaps, "that would be worse. Just slide forward. It'll go away."

I comply quickly and sit as still as humanly possible while Lynn and Zeke set up 20 shot glasses of gold-colored liquid between Oscar and Hector.

"You know the rules," says Zeke, "First one to puke or pass out loses. If no one does either, then the first to finish all ten shots wins."

The twins nod in unison, grab their first shot, and call out, "five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve!" and on twelve they both toss back their first drink. As they take shot after shot, I barely register what's happening in front of me, I'm so embarrassed by what happened between Tobias and I. As the shots disappear, every eye in the room is on the drinking contest, and Tobias takes advantage of the distraction to whisper in my ear.

"I am so sorry, Tris. I'm embarrassed, and I know you are too. You didn't do anything wrong, I promise. I'm just not used to having pretty girls wiggling around on my lap," he explains, trying to lighten the mood.

My heart warms when he calls me "pretty," but I'm still too ashamed to make eye contact, so I just nod.

"Are you ok?" he asks, his chin resting on my shoulder.

I nod again, still not trusting my voice.

"Let's try this," says Tobias, sliding closer to the middle of the couch, which Lynn vacated when she went for the drinks. "You can sit on this side, with your legs over me. Is that more comfortable?"

I nod again, and this time I squeak out, "thanks."

Tobias wraps his right arm around my shoulders and we turn our attention back to the drinking contest just in time to see Oscar rush to the bathroom. At the same time, Hector slumps forward in his chair, passed out. Each of them had eight drinks, so I don't know who will be declared the winner. Immediately the room erupts in shouts favoring one brother or the other. Zeke and Uriah lower Hector to the floor and Zeke turns him on his side, while Uriah grabs a trash can to put in front of him. I wrinkle my nose at the sound of Oscar getting sick in the bathroom and the knowledge that Hector will soon be joining him.

"Ok, listen up," calls Zeke, "I'm calling that a tie, since neither of them can go next anyway. There are four shots left, so I'm giving them to our four newest members. May it make you more dauntless, and Uri, may you finally grow some hair on your chest!"

As Zeke turns to hand out the shots, Tobias clears his throat loudly, causing Zeke to stop in his tracks.

"That's right, no alcohol for the babies. Sorry Four!" Zeke tosses back one of the shots and then gives one to Tobias, one to Shauna, and keeps the last one for himself.

In unison, the three of them begin to chant, "one, two, three, four," Tobias tosses back his shot, "five, six, seven, eight, nine" Shauna takes her drink, "ten!" On ten, Zeke tosses back his shot as well.

Zeke shakes his head like a dog shaking off after a bath and turns to me. "Trissy," he slurs slightly, "if you can figure out our little drinking game, I'll let you get off Four's lap."

For a minute I consider my options. I'm pretty sure I know the answer since I know about Tobias' four fears. Should I throw the question and stay here, or answer correctly and move to my own chair again? On the one hand, I like being close to Tobias. But on the other hand, our closeness got embarrassingly uncomfortable a few minutes ago, so we both might like a little breathing room.

"Well," I begin, "Lauren told us the other day that the typical number of fears a person has is around 10 to 12, and that the record in recent history is four. That's an impressive number that warrants a nickname, and since Four took his shot on the count of four and the rest of you took yours around the average number, I'm going to guess that you drink when the count hits your number of fears. Is that right?"

Zeke's face registers disappointment that I figured out his little riddle, but he smiles again as he waves be back to my own chair. "Very Erudite. Why don't you ask next, too," he offers.

I turn to Shauna and Marlene, neither of whom have been called on yet. "Marlene, Candor or Dauntless?"

"Dauntless!" she declares bravely.

"Zeke, do you have any cinnamon or hot sauce?" I ask.

"Both," he replies eagerly, "and the hot sauce is super hot!"

"Then Marlene, I dare you to take a shot of hot sauce!"

Marlene wrinkles up her nose, but nods in agreement. Zeke runs to the kitchen, and in a minute he is back with a shot glass full of red liquid.

"We don't know how many fears you have yet," I say, "so just take it on three."

We count to three and Marlene tosses back the shot of hot sauce. When her face registers the pain of the fiery drink and her eyes begin to water, I have to choke back an Abnegation urge to apologize. But after just a minute, Marlene is grinning at me proudly, and I know that it's going to be ok.


	2. Chapter 2

When the game wraps up I'm appalled by a sudden realization that we have to be back in the training room in just three hours. Oscar looks bleary-eyed, and Hector is passed out again after a brief vomiting spell. Both of them are fully dressed because no one called on them again after the drinking contest. Zeke and Shauna are more than a little drunk, and she is down to just a pair of leggings and her bra, but I know they'll have a chance to recover because neither of them has to work until later in the day. Tobias has had a few beers, but he seems sober enough, and like Lynn, Marlene, and I, he managed to keep most of his clothes on.

Uriah fared the worst. After the hot sauce challenge we all ganged up on him to try and stop him from saying "pansycake," and as we continued to call on him, and he continued to refuse, the clothes came off. He got all the way down to his boxer shorts, and would have given those up too, but Tobias intervened by announcing that it was time to call it a night and get the initiates back to their dorms.

"What's the matter, Four, afraid you'll feel inadequate once you see a real man?" teases Uriah.

"No, stupid," Zeke slurs, "he's afraid that if the stiff had to see your junk she'd be so disappointed that she'd turn gay. Then he couldn't hook up with her after initiation."

Uriah's eyes grow wide, and he looks from me to Tobias, then shakes it off. "I'm too sober to put up with you tonight, Zeke. Let's head back to the dorm, ladies."

"Wait," commands Tobias. "We need a plan to make sure you guys don't get caught. Zeke, you and Oscar grab Hector and take him home. Keep your eyes open out there, and we'll wait here until you get back. Make sure no one is patrolling the hall by the dorms or searching for lost initiates."

Zeke nods, hauling himself out of the chair. Oscar does the same, and the two of them manage to get Hector on his feet between them. As they stumble out the door, Uriah digs through the pile of clothes on the floor, throwing things at their rightful owners and dressing himself.

Tobias turns to me, our eyes lock, and he hands me an old deck of playing cards. I feel my eyebrows knit together as I try to figure out why. How long is it going to take Zeke to get back here? He laughs softly at my confusion and explains. "I am going to lead the four of you back to the dorms. If we get busted I'm going to act very pissed off and say that I found the four of you playing cards in the hallway. Training and punishing initiates is my responsibility, so you would be left in my hands. If I'm not with you and you get busted, you'd be taken to Eric or another Dauntless leader, and that would be worse for all of us. Ok?"

I nod and take the deck of cards, stashing it in the pocket of my hoodie. As I do, I notice that there is a piece of paper tucked between the cards. Tobias is staring at me pointedly, so I move the folded paper from one pocket to the other so he can see that I found it. He smiles and nods at me, and I shyly smile back.

I can't believe he just passed me a note. In school the Dauntless kids passed notes in class all the time, but that wasn't something the Abnegation ever participated in. I always envied their secret messages and inside jokes, and now I have one of my own. I'm really tempted to peek at it, but I don't want anyone to see, so I just hold it tight in my hand, stuffed deep in my pocket.

Zeke returns with a report that everything is quiet and normal out in the halls, so Tobias peeks his head out the apartment door and motions for us to follow him. As we sneak back to the dorms peeking around every corner, I'm tempted to giggle at how ridiculous we look. We arrive at the Dauntless-born dorm first, and the girls sneak in while Uriah gives Tobias a big grin and a fist bump. "See you in a few hours, man."

We turn back toward the transfer dorms, Tobias walking straight ahead but speaking quickly and quietly. "Tris, we have to be careful. There are cameras around here, and I don't want you to get into trouble. But I have to tell you something."

" _Two things you should know about me. The first is that I am deeply suspicious of people in general," he says. "It is my nature to expect the worst of them. And the second is that I am unexpectedly good with computers."_

 _I nod. He said his other job was working with computers, but I still have trouble picturing him sitting in front of a screen all day._

" _A few weeks ago, before training started, I was at work and I found a way into the Dauntless secure files. Apparently we are not as skilled as the Erudite are at security," he says, "and what I discovered was what looked like war plans. Thinly veiled commands, supply lists, maps. Things like that. And those files were sent by Erudite."_

" _War?" I brush my hair away from my face. Listening to my father insult Erudite all my life has made me wary of them, and my experiences in the Dauntless compound make me wary of authority and human beings in general, so I'm not shocked to hear that a faction could be planning a war._

 _And what Caleb said earlier._ Something big is happening, Beatrice. _I look up at Tobias._

" _War on Abnegation?"_

He places a hand on my shoulder, squeezing gently _, and says, "The faction that controls the government. Yes."_

 _My stomach sinks._

" _All those reports are supposed to stir up dissension against Abnegation," he says, his eyes focused_ down the dark hall. " _Evidently the Erudite now want to speed up the process. I have no idea what to do about it…or what could even be done."_

" _But," I say, "why would Erudite team up with Dauntless?"_

 _And then something occurs to me, something that hits me in the gut and gnaws at my insides. Erudite doesn't have weapons, and they don't know how to fight-but the Dauntless do._

" _They're going to use us," I say._

" _I wonder," he says, "how they plan to get us to fight."_

 _I told Caleb that the Erudite know how to manipulate people. They could coerce some of us into fighting with misinformation, or by appealing to greed-any number of ways. But the Erudite are as meticulous as they are manipulative, so they wouldn't leave it up to chance. They would need to make sure that all their weaknesses are shored up. But how?_

I'm still mulling this over as we reach the transfer dorm. Tobias ushers me behind a pillar near the door, out of the view of the cameras, I assume. He places his hands on my shoulders and nervously asks, "Are you still upset about earlier? You know…" His eyebrows raise pointedly and I feel my cheeks grow hot again.

"No," I begin cautiously, my eyes dropping to the floor. "I'm sorry that I caused you embarrassment, though. I have literally no experience in this area…" I'm cut off by a soft chuckle and a finger lifting my chin, forcing me to make eye contact with Tobias.

"I just wanted to know if you were upset with me," he says, "before I tried to do this." He leans down and kisses me, softly at first, then with more passion, his hand sliding from my chin to the side of my face. My hands move to his sides, and he shivers as I brush what must be a ticklish spot. In the distance we hear footsteps in the hall, and Tobias breaks the kiss and hurries me into the dorm.

Inside, I lean my back against the doorframe and wait for my racing heart to settle down. Between the game, the kisses, and the talk about war, there is no way I'm going to sleep any time soon. I creep back toward my bunk and remove my boots and jacket. In the bunk beside mine, Christina stirs and mumbles, "Tris? Where are you going?"

"Shh," I reply, "bathroom."

She mumbles something incoherent and rolls over, and I hurry to the bathroom to read Tobias' note. Once safely locked in a stall, I unfold the small piece of white paper and read it.

BP,  
Thank you for coming with me tonight. Sorry my friends are crazy. I can't wait for you to finish initiation so I can take you out for real.  
TE

I read the note over and over, giddy. He used our real initials, probably to protect us if the note was discovered, but I want to think it's also because the real him is a secret that only we share. I really want to keep the note, but we can't take any chances, so I tear it into small pieces and flush them down the toilet. When I'm sure that all the evidence is gone, I slip back into my bunk and lay there mulling over everything that happened today. Eventually, my exhaustion must overtake my racing thoughts because it's morning, and Christina is shaking me awake.


End file.
